“The man who accused Kevin Clash, the voice and puppeteer of the Sesame Street character Elmo, of an under-age sexual relationship has recanted that claim, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

The reversal came a day after the claim was published by the gossip Web site TMZ, threatening Mr. Clash’s reputation and alarming parents and other fans of the beloved children’s television franchise.”

“The Million Puppet March — a political rally against Mitt Romney’s debate remarks about Big Bird and cutting funding to public television — may not have actually been a million puppets strong, but furry monsters came from far and near in a post-Halloween parade of support for PBS on Saturday.

The march to the Capitol set off from Lincoln Park shortly after 11 a.m., with the participants singing the “Sesame Street” theme song, and the Muppets’ “Mahna Mahna.” They were asked to keep to the sidewalk, but the hundreds of marchers soon spilled into the street, requiring a police escort. They chanted:

‘Power to the puppets! We can save the Muppets!’

‘Whose street? Sesame Street!’

‘What do we want? Cookies! When do we want them? Now!’

‘EL-MO! We won’t go!’

–“The Million Puppet March: Fighting for public broadcasting, with felt and fur,” Maura Judkis, Washington Post

PNC Bank and public TV’s Sesame Street say they are teaming up to teach kids about money. David Sirota explains it another way: “A bailed-out financial institution teams up with PBS to teach our kids how to spend money on useless crap.”

“PNC” logo and the Sesame Street logo element and creature are property of their respective trademark owners and used here under the “Parody” provisions of the “Fair Use” doctrine. Hey, if PNC hasn’t paid back all that Federal bailout money, taxpayers probably own some rights in their stuff anyway.